Director: Noah Baumbach
★ ★ ☆ ☆ ☆
If you can cast your mind back to the psychotic boyfriend of Rachel that Ben Stiller played in Friends, his portrayal of the titular Roger Greenberg here might give you some idea of where that guy ended up. Greenberg is an unemployed misanthrope, always seemingly little more than a step away from returning to the mental hospital he recently left, with an affair with the much younger woman (Greta Gerwig) he meets while house-sitting for his brother doing little to lift him. It’s a brave move for Stiller, who has never shied away from unlikeable characters, but rarely played one so dark. Greenberg is Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry David without the sunny personality, and watching him interact with others can be painful to behold. It’s all very well giving us an insight into a troubled soul, but it’s just so stifling and mannered, too uncomfortable as a comedy and not meaty enough as drama.
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